LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) -The Lubbock County Democratic Party issued a statement condemning a social media post made Saturday by the Lubbock Young Republicans, which critics described as containing offensive racial rhetoric.
Lubbock Young Republicans posted this photo on Facebook Saturday, while campaigning door-to-door in Lubbock neighborhoods. The political group then deleted the post hours later.
Screenshot(Lubbock Young Republicans Facebook)
The Democratic Party wrote the post “contained offensive racial rhetoric, explicitly urging voters to ‘vote with the hard R’, a clear and deliberate reference to a deeply harmful racial slur targeting the Black community.
“Our party condemns this recent post by the Lubbock Young Republicans, which includes one of the most offensively racist terms used against the African American community,” said Gracie Gomez, chair of the Lubbock County Democratic Party.
Jordan Kirk of the Lubbock Young Republicans reached out to KCBD and released the following statement below.
“ ‘Hard R’ was campaign shorthand for a strong Republican voter. That was the meaning, and that was the intent.
“It was not a racial reference. When we saw the phrase was being interpreted differently, we removed the post. We’re focused on engaging voters and moving forward.”
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